Janaline, Luke and Glenn look at migration policy, what all the political parties are saying about it and whether the narrative actually matches reality. Are migrants essential for Australia’s economic prosperity or a drain on national resources? And how is it possible that there are too many migrants except in pretty much every economic sector? Should Australian citizenship be conditional on good behaviour, and if so, does that only apply to some people and not to others? Maybe it’s actually not about economic reality and more about culture wars and political expediency?
Janaline, Yassine and Glenn ask why Australians lose more to gambling than any other nationality in the world and what can be done to stop gambling harm. Turns out a lot can be done, so they then ask why the Government isn’t doing it.
Janaline, Luke and Glenn look at the Safeguard Mechanism - the government’s main policy to manage down industrial emissions - and how it can be made more effective. How can it make miners and fossil fuel companies do more of the heavy lifting, and shouldn’t the whole thing just be scrapped for an economy-wide price on carbon? Maybe a focus on methane will help? This episode carries a nerd alert, but we hope you will bear with us because it genuinely is so important.
Janaline and Glenn look at the different ways in which AI is likely to affect the Australian economy and ask what, if anything, the government can do to ensure it delivers benefit to the people. Spoiler alert: we see a big role for government policy here.
Janaline, Glenn and Luke pick apart the 2026 Federal Budget, particularly the revenue measures, but also its potential impact on productivity. Spoiler alert - we think businesses and asset holders should pay tax just like wage earners.
Janaline and Glenn discuss One Nation’s policy positions and what implementing them would mean for Australia.
Janaline and Glenn discuss different ways of raising revenue for the government and the effects of different approaches on how people behave and therefore how much can be raised.
Welcome to a new season. In our first episode, Janaline, Glenn and Luke consider why the Government can’t just plug the budget’s $200 billion worth of tax loopholes (called ’tax expenditures’). There are lots of reasons, and we think they can and should plug some of them.
Janaline and William examine the pros and cons of rent freezes as a cost of living measure and the broader issues of housing affordability.
Janaline and William examine Labor’s Future Made in Australia policy and explore its implications for Australia’s future economic prosperity.
Callum and Janaline examine economic inequality and what governments can do to address it.
Janaline and Will examine Australia’s superannuation tax changes, analyse media coverage of the reforms, and explore approaches to a fairer taxation system.
William and Janaline examine the gap between climate messaging and actual climate policy, and what stopping new fossil fuel developments in Australia would really mean for global emissions.